


The Heart of Darkness

by Humanities_Handbag



Category: Strange Magic (2015)
Genre: A fluffy drabble to pass the time, Brave, Sunny turns himself in, and Dawn knows that, but stupid, the Bog King is just a big softy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2015-10-26
Packaged: 2018-04-28 07:30:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5083141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Humanities_Handbag/pseuds/Humanities_Handbag
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sunny turns himself in for the crimes against a Kingdom its King and his best friend. It doesn't go as expected.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Heart of Darkness

Sunny had done possibly the single stupidest thing in his life twice now. Stealing a love potion to dust his best friend had been undoubtedly idiotic. Cruel, even. 

Facing the Bog King, however- that was a whole new level of insanity. 

But there he stood, between two hulking Goblin’s who’s faces looked familiar but who’s named had long been lost to him, staring up at the King who glowered down from his perch. 

“ _What_ …” the King had seethed, “are  _you_  doing here.”

And that was when Sunny had done the second stupidest thing in his life. Except, he decided, staring down at his hands and willing himself not to cry, it wasn’t all that stupid at all. It was brave. He, Sunny the Elf, was being brave for the first time in his life. And he was beginning to see why what he’d done in the past couldn’t be categorized as such. Because this, the odd twisting feeling in his chest and the eyes staring down with something close to hatred and far from respect but still so close to both, was  _painful_. And  _awful_. And he wanted to hide in the shadows and never return.

So he continued. Because he was tired of hiding.

“I’m… I’m here…” he began, voice trembling no matter what he’d done to settle it, “I’m here to… to t-turn myself- to turn myself in… Your Majesty… sir…” 

The silence that followed was near suffocating, and he did his best to swallow it back, eyes darting up, just finding clawed feet in his line of vision. 

And when Bog did finally speak it was slow and dark and puncturing and Sunny had to do everything in his power to not shirk away and run right then and there. “You are here to  _turn yourself in_.” There was a sound of shifting, the King rising from his throne, staff sliding across the floor as he walked sending sparks and rust this way and that. And when he did stop he did so right in front of the Elf. Sunny didn’t look up, but the feet were still there and he did his best to focus on those and will back even more tears. “ _Elf_ , ye have a record of crimes that I have not soon forgotten. Against the  _crown_ , against  _my Kingdom_. Ye  _know_  what kind of punishment that brings.”

“I- I-”

“I never would have thought you so  _foolish_  as to stroll through here, a wee thing like ye, and willingly place yee’re  _head_  on tha block.”

The tears pressed harder then, and Sunny let out a shaking breath, nodding furiously. The feet didn’t shift, but they blurred. 

“ _Elf_.”

“ _…yes sir_.”

There was another long silence. And then the feet did move, strolling backwards towards a place unknown. Sunny choked back a sob, prepared to follow along to something that he’d been expecting but wishing with all he had wouldn’t. Perhaps they’d be lenient, and a lifetime without sun in the dungeons would be his final bow. Or maybe they’d be even kinder and allow him to say goodbye to the ones he loved before-

“ _Release him_.” His thoughts vanished when the Goblins at his sides grunted something low and guttural before shifting away, and the pressure in the air lifted. “Elf, if you would, follow.” And for the first time that night, Sunny looked up. 

The Bog King’s face wasn’t something he could translate. Not anger, but hardly forgiveness either. But if there was any malice he certainly couldn’t see it. “Don’t stand there all day. I have others to meet with and despite the magnitude of your crimes there are others far more  _important_  who must be dealt with.” 

“Oh! Uh… yes… sir…” Bog rolled his eyes, stepping along past the throne towards a hallway. And after wiping away tears that had fallen without permission, he did his best to scurry after, following along the dour monarch towards a place with no name.

* * *

That place ended up being the private study. Scrolls dipping off ledges of windows like ivy, books scattered here and there as if growing from the floor in masses of weeds, the room was a dignified mess of perfect chaos. 

“Apologies for the disarray.” Sunny’s head snapped up, drawn by the bored lilt of a Goblin King. “Marianne was here the night before and we…” the pause was enough. “Yes. Well… there was some paperwork done among… other things.” 

“Understood, sir.”

Bog’s spoked brow rose. “Yee’re hardly in a place of forgiveness,  _Elf_. Yee’re Majesty of Sire will do you well if ye wan’t yee’re head atop those shoulders.”

“Yes sire,” he parroted, far too quickly. “Of _course_  your majesty.”

The brow rose again, but the hum that followed wasn’t fatal, so Sunny relaxed, rocking back and forth on his heels. There was a shuffle as papers were moved and a King settled into his seat- a small carved chair with no dignity in its worn, well loved edges but a throne when holding someone as perfectly  _prideful_  as its owner. “Ye are here to _turn yee’rself_ in. That’s wha’ ye said.”

“Yes, si-  _your majesty_.” 

“Why.”

“Because… because what I did was wrong…”

“I commend ye for yee’re knowledge of right and wrong, lad. But tha’s nay what I asked ye.”

The air was feeling tight again, and Sunny rocked back and forth once more. “I guess because… because now I’m in love with  _Dawn_.” The tiny shift in the King’s features was almost unnoticeable, but Sunny saw it and latched onto it fiercely. No matter what torture she’d put him through with encore after encore of a certain sweet ballad, Bog had always had a soft spot for the blonde Fae. “And… and trying to do what I did to her…  _that_  was  _wrong_. And I don’t… I don’t deserve many things, sire. And she’s not one of them. Not after what I did.”

“A valiant notion from a foolish creature.” Claws tapped a rhythm against the table, blue eyes burning into brown. “And does she know-”

“ _Yes_.” The brow rose once more and Sunny blushed. “I mean… I mean I  _told_  her, Sire.”

“And Dawn…”

“She forgave me already.” She had, in a show of kisses and embraces, tugging him close and calling him an assortment of nicknames and affections.  _You did so much good for us too_ , she’d chirped without an ounce of anger in eyes that only saw the world through a lens too pure,  _you’re who I want and that’s all there is to it_! 

“That child will forgive anyone who smiles at her,” Bog snarled. “It’s infuriating how perfectly  _wonderful_  she is.”

“Yeah…” swooned the Elf. “She is  _wonderful_.”

“Which is  _why_  I must protect her from people who do her  _wrong_.” And Sunny’s attention was once more fully on the King, heart stopping for the merest of moments, trying to decipher something without a code or explanation. “That Fairy has a terrible habit of saving people. She saved me once. And today, she might very well save  _ye_.”

“Save…”

“Ye want ta stay in tha good graces of tha Dark Forest? Treat her well, ye understand? The debt is hardly repaid, and I may call on ye for favors only yeer…  _skill_  of trespassing can allow-”

“ _Yes_!” Sunny breathed, smile growing by the minute, “ _Of course_!”

“And treat her wrong in any way-”

“I would  _never_.”

“For your sake, I do hope not.”

And then he was standing, towering over the Elf once more. But this time there was a smile, and Sunny couldn’t help but smile back. “She’s lucky ta have ye. Despite yeer wrongs, of which there are many, it’s good ta know she has ye. Yeer stupid. But brave _.”_

“Yeah… well… I try.”

“Keep trying. Perhaps one day yee’l be just brave. Though I doubt that sincerely.”

And with that, Sunny was off, skipping to a tune, his head on his shoulders and a newfound respect to be earned. And on the border Dawn was there to greet him, arms open, lips pressing and words sending him over the edge.

“See,” she nudged him, pecking his cheek, fingers slipping into his own, “I told ya Boggy was just a big softy.”


End file.
